Blake Tarbell bags Best on Day 1a of CPPT World Cup of Cards
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After a successful premiere at the 2016 World Cup of Cards (WCC), Card Player Poker Tour (CPPT) was back at Playground Poker Club Friday, kicking off Day 1a of the $400,000 guaranteed CPPT World Cup of Cards.
A total of 76 entries gathered on Day 1a for the 13th event of the 2017 WCC. After 14 levels of play on Friday, Blake Tarbell topped the counts, leading just 18 survivors.
Tarbell bagged a stack of 274,500 to claim the top spot, the majority of which came in a big pot during the last level against Sammy Chao. Tarbell turned the nut flush and took Chao to value town on the river with a big bet.
Sitting on the leaderboard just behind Tarbell is Jianchen Gong who bagged second best with a stack of 226,000. Stuart Taylor (196,500), Douglas Watson (185,500), and Rong Xu (175,000) round out the top five.
Notables also making a splash on Day 1a include defending champion Brady Hinnegan (42,500), William Blais (169,000), two-time 2017 WCC title holder Andrew Watt (113,000), Sammy Chao (112,000), and David Valcourt-Dube (57,000), all of whom secured seats on Sunday's Day 2.
Familiar faces to join the mix but ultimately fizzle out before the end of play include WSOP November Niner's Scott Montgomery and Marc-Etienne Mclaughlin, partypoker ambassador Kristen Bicknell, Mike Leah, David Ormsby, Ami Alibay, Laurence Grondin, and Samuel Chartier.
The second and final flight is set for Saturday morning at 11 a.m. local time in Kahnawake. Day 1b is scheduled for another 14 levels with late registration open until approximately 4 p.m.